Fifth-wheel trailers are conventionally trailered by vehicles such as pick-up trucks. Such pick-up trucks customarily have a cargo bed equipped with bed walls and a tailgate for the loading and unloading of cargo therefrom. The fifth-wheel mounting hitch is typically centrally located at a mounting site within the pick-up truck cargo bed between the fenderwells. The fifth-wheel trailer customarily includes a goose neck extension having an upwardly and outwardly support frame terminated by a vertical downwardly disposed hitching post fitted with a king pin for engaging and locking onto a correspondly mating king pin mount within the cargo bed.
The hitching mount within the cargo bed customarily comprises a beveled and slotted locking member which channels the king pin upwardly and inwardly towards a centrally disposed king pin locking member of the hitching mount. During the trailering, the fifth-wheel mounting site is customarily positioned at a lower level or height than the tailgate top rail. It is customary to lower or remove the end gate before hitching onto the fifth-wheel trailer. To hitch the fifth-wheel trailer onto the hitching mount, the vehicle's hitching mount is normally aligned and backed onto the fifth-wheel trailer king pin until it engages and locks onto the hitching mount.
Notwithstanding extensive fifth-wheel trailer usage for several decades, relatively little progress has been made towards the development of an enclosing protective bed cover which may be effectively used therewith. Fifth-wheel trailer hitching mounts customarily occupy a substantial portion of the cargo bed, and especially within the bed area between the rear tire fenderwells of the pick-up bed. The cargo bed is customarily left open and exposed to the elements. The goose-necked trailer and pick-up cab combination tend to create wind currents about the bed which tend to sweep the cargo (especially lighter cargo) from the cargo bed. Other climatic adversities such as hail, rain, snow, sleet, icing, etc. compound those problems associated with the transporting of cargo in vehicles equipped with fifth-wheel trailers. The cargo bed utility is accordingly substantially diminished. Lowering or removal of the tailgate has often practiced during trailering since a raised tailgate section creates substantial wind drag and a concomitant loss in fuel economy. Perforated or apertured tailgate sections are commonly used to partially alleviate this problem.
The mounting and removing fifth-wheel hitching mounts from the cargo beds are strenuous and time consuming. Many fifth-wheel users are retirees, senior citizens and distant travelers. For health and other reasons such users are often physically unable or do not care to remove the mount from the bed and when traveling, users typically unhitch the trailer for want of a suitable storing place or other reasons without removing the mount therefrom.
The design and construction of fifth-wheel trailer assemblies has presented unique problems which heretofore have prevented the adaptation of an effective protective cargo bed top covering thereto. The conventional practice of covering pick-up beds with snap-on tarpaulin, nylon coverings, camper tops, etc. have generally been found to be unsuited for this purpose. The patent literature also fails to disclose covering devices which are compatible with bed mounted fifth-wheel trailer assemblies. U.S. Pat. No. 4,542,911 by Mulligan discloses a camper top which when collapsed onto the box forms a cargo bed covering. U.S. Pat. No. 3,768,858 by Boismeier discloses a bed cover comprised of two pairs of hinged longitudinal panel sections foldable into various configurations including an open position and an enclosed position to cover a bed box.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,936,077 by Blick discloses a tonneau cover for use with a fifth-wheel camper truck. The cover includes an undercarriage frame secured onto the top rails of the truck box sidewalls which supports a flexible cover. The flexible cover is provided with a goose-neck post port opening and an attachable port cover for covering the opening when not trailering the fifth-wheel trailer. The Blick flexible cover is secured to the undercarriage frame by snap fasteners. The flexible cover also includes a zippered elongated slit extending from one of the sides of the cover to the port opening which permits it to be installed or removed from the undercarriage frame. In the Blick tonneau covering device, it is necessary to partially disassemble in part, and reassemble the undercarriage frame in order to mount or dismount the fifth-wheel trailer from the cargo bed. Similarly, the flexible covering necessitates separate disassembling and reassembling onto the undercarriage frame when mounting or dismounting a fifth-wheel trailer therefrom. Enclosure of the bed is accomplished by emplacing the unzipped flexible covering (with the detachable fifth-wheel access opening removed therefrom) about the fifth-wheel king pin post, snapping it onto the undercarriage and zipping it together so as to provide a flexible covering enclosure therefore. The Blick covering device accordingly necessitates several sequential assemblies or disassemblies in the mounting or dismounting of a fifth-wheel trailer to the cargo bed.